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GROOTS International Website
Homepage: http://www.groots.org/
GROOTS Kenya: http://www.groots.org/members/kenya.htm
GROOTS
GROOTS Kenya is a movement building
organization with a network of women self help groups and community based
organization whose membership totals
2,000 grassroots women nationally. Since
1995 the organization has remained committed to building the capacity of
grassroots women and their communities to effectively participate in
development processes.
Our vision is a society in which
women and their communities participate effectively in their own development
while our mission is to facilitate grassroots women and their communities to
effectively participate in development processes. GROOTS Kenya’s main
interventions are advocacy and capacity development which are implemented in
three thematic programmes, namely;
1) Community
Responses to HIV/AIDS,
2) Women and Leadership Programme,
3) and the Women and Property
Programme.
The Women
and Property Programme aims to curb
property and asset stripping, and safeguard the property and inheritance rights
of grassroots women (especially widows) and vulnerable children and youth. One
of the most recognizable initiatives under this programme has been the
formation of ’community land and property Watchdog groups’. These groups’ main
objective is to monitor and safeguard property stripping for widows and orphans
within the community.
The advent of the HIV/AIDS pandemic
meant that a great number of women and children were being widowed and
orphaned. Women could no longer access and use land which they depended on for
their livelihood and this compounded their vulnerability as they were left
destitute and unable to fend for themselves and their families. This was
further compounded by the fact that while there were various land
administration laws enacted in the late 1990’s in
This year GROOTS Kenya, under the
women and property programme, chose to invest in capacity building in the
community and expanding the knowledge base. In 2009 GROOTS Kenya has supported
comprehensive community paralegal trainings for network members and has worked
to document the work of Watchdog groups in complementing the government in
securing the property and land tenure of vulnerable members of the community.
Although we have continually shared
the achievements of the community land watchdog group members in complimenting
the state it has never been documented and consequently the impacts have been
taken as an anecdote. GROOTS Kenya would like to expand and have this
initiative replicated countrywide. Therefore as a step towards expansion and
replication this year GROOTS Kenya trained grassroots women to carry out action
research, whereby they have extracted data and compiled reports on cases that
are at different stages including cases at the land tribunals and courts.
They have furthermore conducted focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with key informants and beneficiaries that GROOTS Kenya will condense into an advocacy document for circulation at local and national level, with the intention that it will lead to replication of the watchdog group initiative nationwide and enhance the recognition of Watchdog groups as a compliment to state systems.
In the past three years Watchdog
groups have successfully resolved 101 cases.
Not only have they worked towards decongesting the judicial system but
Watchdogs have further supported vulnerable groups with psychosocial assistance
that have restored hope and raised morale for the community members.
The
following is a success story and a testament of the watchdog group’s work.
In Gatundu District, Central
Province of Kenya, GROOTS Kenya members in the Gatundu Mwirutiru Womens
Iniative have 15 Watchdog groups spread out in 10 locations. In March 2009
watchdog groups in the area intervened and supported two orphans whose
relatives disinherited and ejected them out of the family home after the death
of their parents. The Watchdog group members managed to advocate on their
behalf and they are now back in the family homestead of 5 acres of land which has prime tea growing
on it.
Members of the
watchdog group in their office.
Case Study
*The
true names of the family concerned have been changed for security purposes.
The two children, Alice and Jack,
father passed away in 2003 following which their paternal uncle chased them and
their mother (Lina) from the family home. They were forced to move to the next
village, and rented a room at the local shopping centre. Their mother took
action and reported the matter to the area chief a representative of the local
government and started the process for filling a suit at the local high court.
However she had to do away with the court process as she could not afford the
court filing fees.
The widow, Lina joined the Gachika
Watchdog group of Gatundu south division in 2003. Through her exposure to the
work of the Watchdog group, they were able to assist her to forward the case to
the district land tribunal for arbitration.
The case was however subject to many delays and postponements and unfortunately
in 2007, Lina who had been ailing passed away, before the case was concluded.
The members of Gachika Watchdog
group took up the matter on her death, they pursued the case at the tribunal,
which went through four different hearings before the tribunal finally made a
ruling. The group forwarded the tribunals ruling to Gatundu magistrates’ court
for adoption where the Magistrate awarded the deceased (estate) property to the
orphaned children.
The challenge however was in
implementing the courts award. The uncle Mwangi was not cooperative at
all. This forced the members of the
watchdog group to refer the case back to the chairman of the land dispute
tribunal to intervene. The matter was escalated to the Magistrate who issued
orders that the Mwangi was to provide access to the property for the children.
Mwangi was still raising hurdles and
the watchdog members organized community members who marched protesting before
the District officers, office. This forced the chief and the district officer
to physically go out to the disputed property and address Mwangi.
Mwangi finally conceded and allowed
a surveyor to came and demarcate the five acres of land allocated to the
orphaned children.
Community members
clearing the tea plantation bush in the area identified for erecting the house
for the community members.
Watchdog group members and members
of the community had a meeting and decided to assist in resettling the orphans
on the property. They volunteered to source funds to buy building material and
further more get skilled carpenters and builders to volunteer to help erect a
three bed roomed house for the orphaned children.
The community members, leaders and
Watchdog group as well as well wishers gathered on a weekend and cleared an
area of the tea plantation and set up on building the house. They further took
the family through a reconciliatory process so that the children can settle
back and be safe living in the family homestead.
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